N.H. Lawmaker Accused Of Domestic Violence Loses Reelection Bid

Former New Hampshire Senate Minority Leader Jeff Woodburn has lost his reelection bid in the North Country.

The Whitefield Democrat was arrested in August on several domestic-assault-related charges. State Democratic leaders urged Woodburn to drop out of the race at the time, but he remained on the ballot, fighting off a write-in challenge in the Democratic primary.

Woodburn was first elected to the District One Senate seat in 2012. Republican David Starr of Franconia will now hold that seat.

Related Content

New Hampshire voters have approved two changes to the state constitution Tuesday. The first amendment gives individual taxpayers the legal standing necessary to bring a lawsuit against the government if they believe public funds are being misused.

Voters headed to the polls across New Hampshire Tuesday to vote in the midterm elections. Click here for all of NHPR's 2108 election coverage. Scroll down to read our real-time coverage of Election Day.

Newly released court documents use Whitefield State Senator Jeff Woodburn's personal diaries to corroborate the domestic violence charges faced by the former Senate Democratic Leader.

According to an affidavit filed by a state investigator, last Christmas Day Woodburn wrote in his diary that he was "focused on my failure to control my anger," "It is becoming regular and it scares me."

In an earlier entry, from that August, Woodburn describes kicking the door off the dryer after an argument that included his partner throwing his clothes out on the lawn.

According to WMUR, court filings made by Woodburn's attorney claim that any force Woodburn used against the alleged victim was necessary to allow him to leave a volatile situation created by the alleged victim.

The filings also claim the alleged victim, his former partner, repeatedly tried to keep Woodburn from leaving her, including at one point brandishing a knife.

Fresh off a easy victory against a write-in opponent recruited by the Democratic Party, Jeff Woodburn returned to the state house for veto override day Thursday. All but one of his fellow Democrats in the Senate urged him to resign last month when he was charged with domestic violence. Woodburn says he intends to continue serving in Concord.

"The only people I'm expecting support from are people in my district. They are the ones who have given me this job and they are the only ones who are going to take it away."